the santa principal.

My new entry comes a bit late as like many people in the recession I have been let go from work. To say this is a bit soul destroying wouldn't be far of the mark but I still find time for my favourite hobby which is pondering the madness that is life.
Lately tho I have started strolling and having a chance to think and I have got to thinking about religion trying to keep my blogs lighthearted is no problem when your in the mood but as of late I have been having conflicted feelings about religion and just to give you a back ground on myself I was raised catholic not strictcy but thought to have fate all the same and in a late night discussion with my brother we got talking about the brainwashing effects of religion and there was some fantastic revalations my favourite of all was the comparison to santa and jesus.
Now let me tell you how this came about my partner and I plan on trying for a baby sometime in the near future and we want to send it to a non religous school because although we have faith we would prefer our child to have an education with out having religion in the picture so out of curiousity my brother and I started looking for a primary school in Dublin that was not connected to the catholic church and guess what theres is none, not in the area where I live its all saint this and saint that and this upset me because there is an awful lot of secondary school that are not at all associated with the church and this really backed up that famouse fascist/ socialist slogan used by tyrants the world over "GIVE ME FOUR YEARS TO TEACH THE CHILDREN AND THE SEED I HAVE SOWN WILL NEVER BE UPROOTED" that was lenin who coined that.
You can imagine how angry I was at this the thought that i could never send my child to a school where some faith wasn't been thought I have no problem with secondary school teaching as it is multi-denominational teaching where as most of you can remember if you go to a catholic school catholic is all your thought prayer in the morning prayer in the evening etc.
This gave raise to even more problems in my anger I decided not to get my child baptised but then I got hassle from all fronts "sure the child couldn't make his communion" "no school will take him" "he will be left out" and I jus got angry not jus for my unborn child but for all the muslim,jews and other faiths that pepper this "new" Ireland we live in do they have to convert or be made more of an outsider as it is because while all the other kids are in church they are left over in the class room this can not be good for breaking down of kids social barriers.
This is where what we dubbed the "santa principal" comes into play. You see children know no better than what there thought a child is like a an empty vase you can fill it up with whatever you like and it will hold on to it.
If you think back to when you where a kid what your parents said or any adult for that matter was law they where your only source of information next to media so when presents start appearing under your tree as if by magic and you wonder where they come from your parents tell you "santa left them there" now days in our adult brains you think how foolish this idea was but when your a child and your told about santa like jesus you believe with your heart and soul that he exists this magic man that comes down the chimney and brings you presents.
It sounds farcical now but as a child that man existed for awhile at least I dont care what anyone says but then sense kicks in and you start to question it and then the dreaded day comes when your parents tell you "sorry love santy isnt real" and that is a bit painful but when its explained to you your logical brain can make sense of it is the same not to be said of jesus and the rest of religion?
When you get down to brass tax there is not much difference between jesus and santa they where bought real people who existed at some time in history bought doing charitable work and who later where personified. They bought reward you for good behaviour granted one is eternal life and one is presents and I think I can guess which a child cares about more bought of them can preform magical acts such as walking on water or visiting every house on the planet in one night. Plus you cant tell me children out there dont pray to santa begging him for more presents?
So thats a rough example of the "santa principale" any intelligent person can think of hundred of other things they have in common but what I am focusing on is the fact that to a child bought santa and jesus occupy the same space they bought are people you never see and bought offer roughly the same things on the same principles the key difference been that your told santa isnt real and in an instant your brain makes sense of it and as if by magic POOF santa is gone along with a bit of your childhood.
I am convinced but sadly cant prove that if you told a child in the same breath that jesus AND santa wasn't real they would believe sure it makes sense there little heads would think and it would not affect them any other way you still get presents at christmas and just because you were to tell a child that jesus is not our lord and saviour they would instantly lose all sense or concience and go out and live a life of crime a child knows right from wrong they do not need to have a mystical being hanging over them to keep them in line most people jus rely on good parenting.
So you have my point now I do believe in jesus the same way I believe in Ghandi and
Martin luther king they where all great prophets and great spreaders of love and peace but as magical beings that punish me for having sex outside of marriage I dont think so and I do believe in a higher power but not some man man with a beard and a throne full of screaming souls and I aint making that up its in the book of revalations, so I want to put the question of the "santa principal" out there and hear some feed back and I pray to sant I do